Kingston High School Vice Principal Andrew Sheber pays $200 fine after drug charge against him is reduced

TANNERSVILLE, N.Y. -- The marijuana possession and traffic charges against Kingston High School Vice Principal Andrew Sheber were reduced to two "parking on pavement" violations Wednesday afternoon in Hunter Town Court.

Sheber pleaded guilty to the lesser charges and paid two fines of $100 each.

Sheber declined to comment on the case after the proceeding. His attorney, Christopher Coleman of Poughkeepsie, said outside the courtroom that Sheber was ready to move on.

Sheber was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, about 1 a.m. June 2 after being stopped by a state trooper on state Route 23A in Hunter, Greene County.

Advertisement

Sheber has said he was pulled over because he "did not stop well enough at a stop sign," for which he also was charged with a violation.

Sheber said two days after the incident that the marijuana was not his -- that it belonged to someone he had driven to the Mountain Jam outdoor music festival at Hunter Mountain. He did not identify the person, and he said he did not smoke any of the pot himself.

Court records state the Catskill-based trooper who pulled Sheber over found 1 gram (about three one-hundreths of an ounce) of marijuana and one marijuana pipe in Sheber's car.

Sheber was put on paid leave by the school district after the charge came to light. The district later announced Sheber would be denied 15 days of pay and would pay a $5,000 fine.

He will be allowed to return to work on July 2.

Sheber, a former teacher who does not have tenure as an administrator, initially said he feared the drug matter would end his career in education. Many in the Kingston High School community, however, rallied to his support, describing him as a caring educator who went the extra mile to make a difference.

The charges against Sheber also led to a torrent of reader comments on the Freeman's website about whether the vice principal should be allowed to keep his job and about whether marijuana possession should remain illegal.